Heat-controlling device.



lvm-894,941. PATENTED AUG../4, v1903.

l W. M. FULTON.

HEAT GONTROLLING DEVICE.

P L .2 AP LIUATION I'I ED MAR 4,1905 Z SHBETS`SHEET 1.

new and usefullmprovement in I-IeaCon-l v for controlling the generation of heat.

. perature and may be set to voperate between shows an enlarged vertical section of a modi-4 being preferably made rentering and ex- UNITED STATES;

PAENTOFFICE.

WESTON M. FULTON, or KNoXvILLE, TENNESSEE,- AssIGNoa'To THE FULToN coMPANY,

OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE,

A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

Specification of Letters'Patent. l Application led March 24, 1905. Serial No. 251,912.

-Patented Aug. 4, V1908.

To all whom 'it may concern:

of Knoxville, Tennesse, have invented a trolling Devices,r which invention is fullyset forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to. heat controlling devices, and particularly to those in which the thermo-sensitive properties of'a gaseous l body are utilizedy to impart motion toa co1- lapsible and expansible vessel to 'automatical y actuate a damper or valve mechanism The object of this invention is to provide a heat controlling device whichpmay be a plied to stoves, furnaces, and the like, whic will` quickly respond to slight variations in temany predetermined maximum and minimum temperature limits Aand remain inoperative at temperatures outside of these limits.

A further object is to provide a device which will be simple in construction, durable, and can be readily adapted to existing stoves and furnacesv with a minimum expenditure' of time andlabor, and which will maintain the temperature of the space to be heated quantityof `fuel burned by preventing extremes of heat. f

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, Vcertain mechanical eX- pressions of the inventive idea involved are` shown inthe accompanying drawings, which are designed merely as illustrations to assist in the description of the invention, and not4 as defining the limits thereof. A

In theaccompanying drawings-Figure 1 shows in elevation and part vertical section one form` of the invention as applied to a heating stove. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the apparatus shown by Fig.- 1. l Fig. 3

fication of the thermo-sensitive device and the manner of sup orting the same. Fig. 4 is a further modllcation; and Fig. 5 shows the a plication of the invention tol an oven.

Re erring to Fig. 1, 1 is a colla sible and expansible vessel of corrugated s eet-metal having rigid end walls 2 and 3, one of which is fast and the other free to move, the latter tending nearly to the end wall 2. Both end -Walls are securel attached to the ends `oi the corrugated portlon by welding or brazing,

urrounding vessel l, is an'outer casing 4, which may assume various forms, and, as shown in Fig.' 1, completely'-incloses the inner collapsible vessel 1. To the top wall of casing 4 is attached the `bottom wall 2v of 'the collapsible vessel as by means of a bolt 5.

6 1s a sup orting member `preferably trough-shaped or mounting the casing 4 on aheating stove"7. The inverted trough enables the hot'air currents ascending the slde of the stove to be directed intothe casing 4 through openings 7 and circulate around and heat the collapsible and expansible vessel 1, and then pass out of the casing through openings 8.

Attached to the rentering movable wall 3 of the vessel 1 is a rod 9 passingthrough the 1casing 4 and pivoted at its end to a lever 10,

'which isi'ulcrum'ed in a lug 1-1 attached to the casing 4. Lever 10 is provided 4at its other end with a guide sleeve 12 loose on a damper rod 13, but held from sliding on this rod by means of adjustable collars 14. Stove 7, which is of the ordinary pattern, is shown as having bottom and top dampers 15 and 16. Damper 15 is provided withl a lug 17 cast thereon, having at its outer end a. hole' receivin a swivel nut 18 loosely mounted therein, eld in place by a Cotter-pin 20. Independently mounted on one of the bearings for damper 16 is a revolubly supported arm 21 having a shoulder 21 adapted to engage a lug 422 on damper 16. The outer end of arm 21 is `,also provided with anopening to receive a swivel-nut 23 similar to that of the lower damper.' The lower end of rod 13 is screwthreaded and engages swivel-.nut 18 while near its upper end is a-bushing 28 fast to the rod and engaging nut 23. Rod 13 thusforms anadjustablebut rigid connection between 'dampers 15 and 16. vFast to nut 23 is a heat indicating dial 24 having an index-hand pivoted at 25, 'rovided with anextension 26 for loosely taking around rod 13.

27 is a collar fast to rod 13 which, wit bushing 28, prevents the extension 26 from moving lengthwise of rod 13. y

29 is a hand-wheel forturning rod 13.

In'assembling the heat regulator above de- 'thereby forming a hermetically closed vessel. Be it known that I, WESTON M. FULTON, S

scribed, the rentering orlower Wall of the collapsible vessel should be separated -rom s its opposite wall 2- by a short distance depending onthe intended length of traverse of the collapsible vessel, but the distance. separating these walls should not be so great as to prevent the lowerl wall reaching the upper one when the vessel is fully collapsed, thereby limiting the extent of contraction of the d collapsiblewall in an upwarddirection. A

similar limit to the amount of downward extension is also provided by means of the lower wall of cas1ng4 or by means of an adjustable limiting screw 30'. The walls of the '10 vessel are thus tprevented from exceeding the elastic limits o its material.

The gaseous body Whoseexpansion and contraction is to be utilized in colla singand expandin the vessel is introduced) into the I5 same in t e following manner, the quantity introduced being dependent upon the tension desired Within the vessel and the temperature at which the collapsible and expansible vessel is to begin its expansion under the ef- 20 fects of the 4surrounding heated medium.

To charge, thevesselto operate for example ata tem erature of 170 F. it is filled with carbon ioxid, a portion of which is then pumped out so as to reduce the ressure therein. This causes the pressure o the atmosphere acting on the movable end wall 3 to force it towards wall 2 till it comes in contact therewith. Thev pressure within the vessel is then further reduced by' exhausting a further portion of the gas from the vessel comes Warmlthe by radiatlon and convectlve currents of `air until its tension hasv been reduced to such an extent that it will have to be raised to a temperature of 170 F.l to bring its tension up' to atmospheric pressure. The exhaust conneci 35 tionis then hermetically sealed and the regudirected byand through the sup ort 6 and around vessel 1, when the predetermined tempera-ture is reached the vessel begins to expand downwards, forcing thi-rend'y 12. of lever 104up and thereby moving damper 15 towards a closed position. If the air sup ly is not sufficiently cut off to stop further extension of the vessel 1, it then continues till dam er 15 closes, while shoulder 21 engages ug 22 and opens the ltop draft. This checks the draft at the bottom of the stove and allows cold air to enter at the top,

thereby reducing the rate ofy combustion and preventin the stove from becoming' further heate As .the stove .cools the vessel 1 cools and the reverse operation .'scribed, Wit

begins. It is preierable` to adjust4 the dam er 15 to nearly close the same before sho der 21 contacts with lug 22. way the heat is mainly controlled by damper 15. lTo adjust the tem erature to Vdifferent degrees the hand-w eel 29 is turned to the right or left as determined by reference to thedial. c If the Wheel is given a right-hand turn, nuts 18, 23 Will be shifted in the direction of the arrow 31, thereby closing damper 15 somewhat and moving ,part 21' nearer to lug 22. This will cause the regulator to close damper `15 and open damper -16 with less expansion of vesse 1. A reverse turn will have an o posite effect on the length oftraverse of tllie vessel and will hold the stove at a higherl temperature.

I have shown the regulator by way of illustratidn, attached to a stove, b'ut it may be used lin` connection with an oven, such as a core oven used in foundries, illustrated in Fig. 5. VIn this case, vessel 1 is supported in the oven without its external casing 4. The vessel roperly charged, as above dca gaseous bodyshas one rigid end wall 32 fast to a shelf 33 in the oven. The other rigid wall 34 has a stud 35 attached thereto and pivoted to one end of a lever` 36, fulcrumed preferably on knife edges 37 in the wall of the oven. The dampers 38, 39 are operated by a chain 40,

passmg over a ulley 41, fast at 42 to the end of lever 36. he o eration. of Cthe regulator will be readily un erstood from what precedes and need not be repeated.

Instead of ,supporting the regulator as shown vin Fig.v 1, the bottom of the casing may be open at 43, Fig. 3, to receive the heat .from the stove, 1n which case the bracket 44 may be used to support the device. In this form of regulator a'larger ,part of the heat which reac es the collapsile and expansible vessel is due to radiation. In other respects its operation is like that described in connection with Fig. V1.

In F' 4 is shown a further modiiication in whic the sup orting Varm 45, is made hollow. or trough-Ilike to receive a-tube 46 connectin the interior of vessel 1 with a gas .cham er 47 .to be mountedclose to or 1n contact withthe slideJ of the stove. This chamber is preferably made broad` and shallow, and conforms in a general way to the contour of the stove,- .thereby an extended heat receiving and emitting surface which further increases the eflicienc of the regulator. 'The casin about the co a sible and expansible vesse -may be direct yat- In this izo tached to the Wall of the stoveyin which case the stove. wall itself may'vserve as part of the closure for the vessel.

Although I have described means for limiting lthe traverse of the collapsible vessel in one and both' directions, other means may be suggested such as by tie-rods located inside or outside of the vessel, and'secure thev advantages of this invention.

It will be noted from the above description that the extent to which .the movable end 5' wall is indented governs the vvolume of as inside the vessel, and, therefore,any esired I degree of eXpansion with a given change of temperature may/be obtained because lthe amount of increase in the expansion lor the gas will depend upon the origmal volume of gas in the vessel; and that rarefaction of the gas below atmospheric pressure at all temperatures below that at which the ,regulator or motor is designed to operate renders it in- 5 sensible to those low temperatures and secures positive action only at the desired temperature.

The. device herein described quickly re sponds to changes in temperature within the predetermined limits, maintains a uniform temperature at any desired temperature, is automatic, and simple in construction.

v What is claimed 1s `1. In a thermosensitive damper .regulato of thecharacter described, the combination of a hot air detaining casing, a closed collapsible and expansible corrugated metallic vessel,containing a gaseous body under diminished atmospheric pressure, -supported Within said casing and having a stationary rigid end wall and an opposite movable rentermg wall normally in contact With said stationary end wall at temperatures below the predetermined lower temperature limit, stop means for limiting the outward movement of said wall for temperatures above a predetermined upper limit, and a ydam er o erating means connected to the movab e en wall.

2. Ina thermosensitive damper regulator i of the character described, the combination of a hot air detaining casing, an inverted troughshaped su porting member for the same and adapted) to direct hot air currents to said casing, a closed collapsible and expansible corrugated metallic vessel, containing a gaseous body under diminished atmospheric ressure, supported within said casing and liaving a stationary rigid end Wall'and an opposite movable rentering wall normally in contact with said stationary end wall at temperatures below the predetermined lower temperature limit, stop means for limlting the outward movement of s'aidwall for temperatures above a l predetermined upper limit, and a damper operating means connected to the movable end wall.

3. In a thermosensitive damper regulator whichTemains non-responsive to temperature changes outside ypredetermined temperature limits and responsive within said limits, the combination of a lclosed collapsible and expansible metallic vessel containing a gas under diminished atmosphericv pressure, said vessel having a stationary rigid end wall and a movable renterlng wall normally in contact with said stationary. end

wall for 'temperatures below the lower tem- 1 perature limit, stop means for limiting the outwardmovement of-said wall, and damper ing witnesses.

WESTON M. FULTON.

Witnessesz W; W. BERRY, E. J. HYATT. 

